Cupping Therapy

What is Cupping Therapy?

Cupping is a type of alternative therapy that has been around for thousands of years in cultures like China, Iran, Egypt, and Greece. Traditional Chinese Medicine believes that cups can facilitate the flow of “QI” in the body or your life force. It involves the placing of cups on the skin to create suction. This allows stagnant blood and lymph to flow freely, and once those circulation pathways are opened it also allows oxygen and nutrients to reach those tight muscles.

What are the Benefits of Cupping?

The suction and negative pressure provided by cupping can:

✔️Loosen muscles
✔️Encourage blood flow
✔️Relieve back and neck pain
✔️Alleviate anxiety, fatigue, and migraines
✔️Help release toxins

Possible side effects include dizziness, and/or nausea, and thirst. It can also leave round purple/pink marks, or circular “bruises” on the skin. These spots do not actually hurt as they are not real bruises, they are just stagnant blood being pulled to the surface of your skin. Most spots will disappear within minutes, but some spots can last for several days, or even 2-3 weeks depending on the area of the body, and it’s blood flow.
So if you have an event to go to, make sure to tell your therapist and they can avoid areas of the skin that would be exposed.

Including cupping in your massage therapy treatment can be a great tool in helping to increase movement of tissue and fluid. Cups can be used in a few different ways, stationary on a focused area or in motion (stroking sweeps, or gliding). And the intensity level of the suction can be controlled, so if you are someone who prefers a lighter pressure massage, you can still benefit from cupping as well!

Now that you have all this new information about cupping therapy, why not give it a try?!

Call Dalhousie Health & Wellness to book your cupping treatment!